Tradition
by Jyo-Chan
Summary: They did this every year; no one should break tradition after all. Axel x Roxas -Christmas Dedication-


They did this every year; no one should break tradition after all. Axel x Roxas

HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Lawls. -phail-

Anyways, this is my present to you all, I hope it's up to scratch. I feel like I'm a bit out of the loop. And **GAWD, I HOPE THIS ISN'T IN THE FRENCH SECTION AGAIN! **

**Disclaimer **- Hey, hey, do you see that on the very bottom right corner of the game cover? Yeah, that's my name. See it yet?? Yeah? No? Keep looking!

Oh wait, is that a mistake or a misprint? -gasp- Square Enix! HELLO! IT AIN'T ME!

-phails again-

…Maybe I should change my name to Square-Enix instead…

…Not likely.

* * *

"_Mum, we're out of flour again."_

"_Again?"_

* * *

It first started when the both of them were little, only around the age of five or so. They had been restless, over-eager and a little whiney if not a tad bit annoying and irritating.

It was almost Christmas.

And think about it, because hey, who _wouldn't_ be when they're facing what seemed to be a mountain of wrapped up presents with ribbons and cards beneath a shiny Christmas tree?

Their mother had devised a plan, a clever plan to distract her baby twins from the big pile of joy standing in the corner of their living room.

Baking.

Cookies.

Gingerbread men with little gum drops buttons and colored icing sugar, shortbread cookies, cut-out cookies in various shapes and dusted with icing sugar, chocolate chip cookies, orange butter cookies and so on. Something for the little ones, and some for the not so little ones; something to make everybody happy.

At first, they had whined, because they didn't want to be torn away from gifts that were only _inches_ away from their little fingers, but their mother urged them to try. Just sit and watch, "You can even lick the cookie dough from the spoon if you want."

And _that_, was what convinced them to sit on their stools and watch as their mother measured the flour precisely, sifted them through, mix it together with other ingredients and essence.

Mimicking blue eyes watched with fascination, and if one would've looked closely, one would've spotted that small bit of drool slipping out from the corner of their mouths as their mother finished off a batch and scooped them onto baking trays before being bunked into the oven to bake.

Almost as soon as the bowl and spoon was licked clean, the two little children went back to ogling at the Christmas gifts beneath the Christmas tree.

"Can we open one present mum?" they asked, all the while making these adorable faces at their mother who shook her head and gestured for the children to come back into the kitchen.

So one batch of cookies quickly became two, but the twins didn't mind joining in to watch again as long as it meant that they get to lick the cookie batter from the spoon.

The baking eventually blew over after Christmas, ending just a couple of days after the twenty-fifth, but come the next year, at the age of six, they were at it again, and she went back to baking cookies.

And every year, she would make too much, so what was she to do? She always gave it away to her friends and family and to the neighborhood houses.

They always appreciated the sweet goodness and a little extra something special.

The same thing happened again the next year, except it was her beloved twins, old enough to resist temptations, that had suggested it instead. And it became their tradition between mother and children.

"Mum, we're out of flour again."

"Again?"

* * *

"Oh so busy, busy." their mother spoke as she moved from one side of the kitchen to another, placing in one tray of cookies into the oven before going back for the other tray.

"Why do we have to make so much?" a blond boy asked as he tossed in two cups of flour into a bowl.

"Sunday's Church service." it was his sister that replied instead as she sprinkled chocolate chips into her own bowl of batter and stirred around.

"Oh…right." it had completely slipped his mind.

"Would you two be a dear and look after the batch in the oven for me? I just need to pop over at the Kingston's for a while." their mother asked as she pulled off the dark blue band that kept her blonde hair up while baking and tucked the stray strands behind her ear, "I'll be back to make sure nothing burns." she smiled as she slipped on a coat and went towards the front door.

"Bye mum!" they called out, voices mixed with laughter and feigned irritation before returning to the work at hand.

There were mixtures to be mixed, batter to be scooped, cookies to be baked while others need to be taken out, placed onto a cooling rack and let to rest before being stored in an air tight container.

When the time came for them to be given away, they'll be carefully piled up into little stacks on a clear plastic sheet and then wrapped with a colored ribbon to fit the festive occasion.

They did this every year, they've been doing it since they were five; there was no need to break tradition.

The both of them continued to work on their own projects; gifts that they want to give to their own friends for the Christmas season.

Naminé liked to decorate the cookies with icing and sugar drops, while Roxas preferred the simpler approach of the good old cookies with nothing too overly fancy. After all, everybody still loved those.

"Pop."

The blond turned to his sister and raised an eyebrow as she made 'popping' noises to signify the chocolate chip being popped into her mouth.

"Pop."

"Naminé."

"Yes?" she smiled as she picked another chocolate chip that was lying on the table before she popped it into her mouth again, "Pop."

"What are you doing?"

"Baking. Pop." she continued to smile as she scooped spoonfuls of cookie batter from the bowl and placed them on a baking sheet and repeated.

He let out a low hum, "Stop eating the chocolate chips. It's gonna go to your hips."

"Pop." and she did it just to spite him. But he merely rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the tattered recipe book, having lost his way in what steps he was up to.

It was about five minutes of 'popping' and scooping before Naminé was done with her batch and moved on to her next recipe.

But first, she needed to find the flour.

And it wasn't until about five minutes of rummaging around the cupboards later that she realized something, "Roxas, I think we're out of flour."

"We are?" he asked as he turned away from where he had been mixing a batch of butter cookies in a big bowl.

She sighed as she came back out from rummaging around the bottom cupboards and stuck both hands on her hips, "We're out of flour." she confirmed with a slight pout of the lips.

"Oh…" but slowly, he went back to stirring and mixing while his sister, Naminé, continued to kneel on the floor with a stern look on her face as though it was the cupboards fault for eating up all the plain flour, the strong flour and the soft flour.

She hummed, "I'm short by two cups."

He raised both eyebrows and slowly turned away, his attention completely focused on his own bowl of cookie batter as though to hide the fact that he had just used the last two cups of flour and failed to mention it a while ago.

Not that it mattered right?

He could've sworn there was another pack in the cupboards somewhere.

Naminé sighed again, "That's ok, I can ask mum if we can go shopping again later." and with nothing better left to do, she checked on the batch in the oven and started on the multiple dishes that were lying in the sink ready to be washed and cleaned.

It wasn't until later, perhaps about twenty minutes or so, when Roxas pushed in another batch of cookies in the oven and when all of the dishes were almost finished, they heard a car pull up the driveway and the voices of their mother and father out the front of the house.

"Mum! We're out of flour again." Naminé called out as soon as the front door opened.

"What? Again?"

* * *

"Ok kids, deliver these to the neighbors while I drive over to the market ok?"

"Yes mum."

"I'll be back soon, and then we can go over to the grannies'."

"Got it mum."

"Toodles!" she waved cheerily as she slipped into the car, started up the engine and drove in the direction of the town center.

Naminé returned the wave and watched as their mother disappeared from view before turning to her big brother, older by four and a half minutes, "Ready to go?" she asked as she swung the basket of goodies in her arms to and fro.

Roxas let out a half hearted sigh and craned his neck to the side, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Looking forward to the Collins?" she asked with a wide smile.

The blond let out a half groan, half moan; memories of a not-too-far-off past suddenly resurfacing.

The Collins.

Ever since the Collins family moved in some years ago and both Roxas and Naminé went over to greet them with home made cookies, Roxas hadn't exactly had the best first hand experience with them. He has never particularly liked them. Not to say that they're bad, it was more like…he disliked their dog.

Their hyper-active pooch. The one that gnawed at his trousers, jumped circles around him, yipped at him for no reason what so ever…

"Can you go instead?" the blond asked as he turned to his younger sister. "Their dog likes you more."

"What if it attacks me when you're not around?" she asked, feigning fright while Roxas merely gave her a blank stare.

She laughed, "Ok, ok, fine." she let out a huff, blowing her blonde bangs from her eyes, "Then _you_ have to go give these to the new neighbors." she spoke as she picked out a bag of cookies for Roxas to take.

"Wait, what? Why do _I _have to go to the new people, you're better at this." the blond protested, his hand still holding the bag of cookies his beloved twin sister had shoved into his arms.

"But I know the other neighbors so much better than you." she reasoned with a smile, "Or would you prefer meeting Schnookums?"

He frowned, only half heartedly at best before he snuffed, "Fine."

She laughed, gave him a pat on the shoulder before she turned heel and left, "Be nice to the new neighbor Roxas!" she called out with a wave as she walked down the pathway, a basket of goodies and cookies in hand.

He frowned, more like pouted actually, before he sighed and moved along his way, towards the house that was recently vacated and was no longer the Thomson's home.

'Please let it be an old woman…' he begged in his head. Mainly because kids were noisy and annoying and would rip away the bag of cookies before he even had a word out. Parents weren't too bad either, but they'd somewhat convince him to help babysit the kids or make him hang around his or her son or daughter, or something...And at least with old women, he'd only have to put up with a cat or two, maybe even a dog or some kind of pet, perhaps even a parrot, and maybe an invitation to some tea and crumpets…

He gave the small pot hole in the middle of the front lawn a slight stare before turning away and continuing his way towards the front door. He stopped a step away from the door, house number 8 with a peephole in the top circle.

Roxas considered knocking on the door, but then spotted the doorbell, so he decided to go with that before taking a good step backwards, shoulder straight and ready to greet the new neighbor.

With a smile.

…Or something _akin_ to a smile.

Naminé had always said his smile looked more like a smirk if anything…

"Who is it??" he heard somebody from the inside call out.

It was a guy, not too old by the way it sounded.

"Uhh-" before the blond even had another utter out, there was a stumble, a curse, the sound of something falling on the floor, another stumble and a quick curse before the door lock was wrenched away and out came the new neighbor looking rather flustered.

"Uhh…" Roxas spoke again, not quite the old lady he had in mind, but hey, it wasn't a kid, and it wasn't some parent with kids. Unless…

The red headed stranger raised an eyebrow, "Can I help ya?"

The voice snapped him out of staring at the guy's hair...which was flamin' red mind you. "Hey, you're new in the neighborhood right?" the blond started but didn't wait for an answer from the other before he raised a bag of cookies wrapped in clear plastic and then tied with a green and red bow, "This is for you. My family does this every year and we always go around the neighborhood and everything."

"Uh…" the stranger stared down at the bag with one eyebrow raised, "Thanks…but uh…no thanks."

The refusal caught Roxas by surprise; he hadn't met anybody who actually _refused_ before. Not in his years of cookie baking and jumping from house to house giving them away. Especially cookies!

"Uh…They're not poisoned." he ventured, thinking that the stranger might just be a tad precautious or something rather. Who knew where the guy came from.

Maybe he received poisoned goods upon arrival or something and he's had lots of bad run-in with those.

"No, it's not that." he stared at the bag of cookies again, a slight furrow in his eyebrows. He sniffed, "I'm just not fond of sweets."

"Oh." He doesn't like sweets? That's weird. Crazy even. Everybody loved sweets, to a certain amount anyway.

But before Roxas could say anything else, the red headed stranger took a step back inside his home, "Thanks for the offer anyway." he spoke and made a move to close the door.

"Are you sure-" he didn't even get to finish his sentence before he was facing a white-painted door. "About…that…"

The blond frowned, and fumed silently to himself. The nerve of the guy.

Sure he said he didn't like sweets, but he could've at least taken them or something, right? Even though it'll go to waste if the guy didn't eat it.

"Whatever…" he rolled his eyes and moved on, wondering if he should give the current bag of cookies away or keep it in case the guy changed his mind.

At first glance, he had thought the red headed neighbor was pretty cool, but now he was a total jerk. "Who the hell doesn't like sweets anyway?" he muttered to himself before walking away from the house, cookies still in hand.

In all his inner fumings and ponderings, he failed to notice that he had walked past his own house, and had almost bypassed Naminé without a second glance.

It wasn't until he heard his name being called that he looked up and spotted his sister just a couple of feet behind him with an already empty basket.

Damn her for being a good sales person, even though they're free.

Naminé stared at her brother first, then at the bag of cookies that were still in his hand, before looking back up into mimicking eyes of blue, "Nobody at home?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

He gave a grunt and walked towards her, "He's not _fond_ of sweets." he muttered out before he stuck the bag back into the empty basket and left for home, his mood ruined.

"Oh…" she stared down at the lone bag of cookies and then back up at the retreating blond before turning to the house that had just been recently sold by the local real estate company. "That's odd…"

* * *

Soles dragged at the concrete of the side footpath. The sun shone brightly and seared at his exposed skin, but he couldn't bring himself to walk any faster to get home any sooner.

He was on his way back from work, and he was feeling sticky and smelly. And he was in the right mood for a cool shower. A long, cool shower.

He yawned, loud and long before finishing in a sigh. He was tired and considered maybe a short power nap before dinner.

As Roxas walked past the house of number 8, he couldn't help but frown slightly. How could the guy not like sweets? It was…downright weird!

Everybody must like sweets! To a certain degree!

And it wasn't as though the cookies were overloaded with sugar either. It was just enough to flavor and give texture.

He decided not to think on it anymore as he stomped past the house, past the open garage where a red sports car was visible with a pair of shoes sticking out from beneath.

Roxas let out a puff of air, a little jealous the man owned a sweet ride.

'Hah…sweet…' he caught himself smirking a little before he wiped it off and continued his way.

It was then, about two steps before completely walking past the house, that he recognized a familiar bag of cookies sitting atop the bonnet of the red head's car.

He paused in his steps and wondered if they were the same cookies that he and Naminé baked a couple of days ago. And when he spotted the green and red ribbon used to tie them up with, he knew it was theirs.

And it was half empty.

Without thinking, the blond walked towards the open garage and stopped just a couple of steps away from a pair of feet that were sticking out from under the vehicle.

He cleared his throat, "I thought you said you didn't like cookies."

There was a knock of something, perhaps flesh with metal, (Roxas winced a bit), a muffled curse, an fumble of tools and another quick curse before a dirtied body rolled out, with a half eaten cookie in mouth, "What?" the red head spoke, muffled and with crumbs flying about.

Roxas rolled his eyes before he pointed to the bag of cookies on top of the bonnet and then to the cookie in the red head's mouth.

He shrugged, somehow maneuvered the rest of the cookie into his mouth without the use of his hands, before he answered, "You said they weren't poisoned, so I gave it a try, and secondly, I don't like _sweets_," he pointed out as he reached up to the bag of cookies and took one of the gingerbread men out, "Is what I said, and these aren't too bad." he gave another off-handed shrug as he bit into the head of a gingerbread man. "A bit too much cinnamon though if you ask me. Could lose the gumdrop buttons…" he frowned a bit as he picked off said gumdrop buttons back into the bag where a good collection already lay uneaten.

Roxas smirked, a little proud he got through to the so-called heartless man, despite the criticism he got on the cookies. "Do you like them?" the blond asked as the red head leaned back on the license plate of his car.

He shrugged as he continued eating despite his dirty fingers, "Not too bad, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for homemade stuffs, although sweets always throw me off a bit."

"You liked the cookies though." Roxas pointed out.

"An exception." he tacked on, "Don't think you're special though. You sister convinced me to just take it and try them. And I can't refuse gifts from cute girls."

Roxas frowned, "Oi, you better not get any ideas about her." he warned with a point of the finger. "She's off limits."

The red head let out a bark of laughter, a few crumbs flying out as he did so, "Woah, talk about a sister complex." he finished with a sigh before he stuffed the rest of the gingerbread man into his mouth and chewed, "Relax; she's not really my type anyway."

"Oh _really_ now." he didn't seem so convinced about it. The red head signaled trouble, anybody could see it from a mile away.

"Yeah, _really_." he repeated, "Although I _do_ have a soft spot for blonds and blue eyes." he spoke as he eyed the blond with raised eyebrows and bit into another cookie.

Roxas frowned again and gave another point of the finger, "You're not allowed anywhere near my sister, got it?"

The red head chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, I got it memorized."

The blond gave a curt nod, and then walked away, intent on going back home and warning Naminé about the red headed neighbor.

The red head shook his head as he watched the blond storm off and dug around the bag for another cookie, a butter cookie this time, "Who said I was after your sister?" he spoke to no one but himself as he watch the boy go towards his home and spotted their mother step out of the car with bags of groceries in hand.

"Hmm…" blond hair and blue eyes must run in the family or something, he noted to himself.

* * *

Roxas yawned again as he sifted through the mail that he just picked up from their letter box. There was the usual junk mail, circulars from supermarkets and random ads, and the usual bills as well.

Looks like the phone/internet bill is here…Which means a quarter of his monthly earnings gone.

He considered maybe getting direct debit, so that he won't have to worry about missing deadlines and getting the dreaded bill in the mail. But he wasn't too keen on giving his bank details away, even if there was such a thing as safe internet banking nowadays…

Can't ever be _too_ safe though.

He slipped the mail box shut and dragged his shoes towards the house and pondered getting a snack or a shower first.

But then he stopped.

He heard laughter, an unfamiliar one joined by one that belonged to his mother.

And a familiar voice, "No problem, Mrs Jansen."

His eye twitched, 'No way…'

"Oh please, call me Miranda."

Another laugh, "Well if you insist Miranda."

Another twitch, 'No…way…'

With a quick twist and push of the doorknob, he made his presence known.

"Oh Roxas! You're home." his mother greeted happily, a tray of cookies in hand.

"Yeah…" he glared at the red head who seemed to be making himself very comfortable of the living room couch. The living room couch which now needs to be sanitized and then maybe burned.

"Hi Roxas." the red head grinned and gave a wave before turning back to the blonde woman, "Well, I probably should get going." he spoke as he finished off the rest of the milk and sat up, "Thanks for the snack by the way."

"Anytime Axel." she smiled and waved.

"See you around." the red head grinned as he walked past the blond and stepped out of the house and into the blazing sun.

It wasn't until he closed the door behind him, and locked it, that he turned to his mother with crossed arms and an unimpressed look.

She didn't seem to catch it.

"Would you like something to eat Roxas?" she asked as she held up the tray of cookies.

"What was he doing here?" he asked, completely bypassing his mother's question.

"Oh, Axel? He was helping me with the groceries." she explained, "I forgot that you were still at work and your dad was off helping the church with some last minute decorating."

"…Huh…" he wasn't entirely convinced that his mother would need help from another guy from just a few simple bags of groceries. That was, until he saw the bags on the kitchen counter top.

Most of it were bags of flour and sugar and eggs and much too heavy for his mother to carry on her own.

"Oh…Ok." he spoke as he walked over to the coffee table and dumped the mail on top of it, "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Ok then. Dinner should be ready in an hour or two." she called out as he retreated to his bedroom on the second floor.

* * *

"Why so down Roxas?"

"Huh?" he looked up from where he had been absentmindedly stirring a batch of cookie batter, "What was that?"

"I asked why you looked so down."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Down? I'm not down." if anything, he was the opposite.

She rolled her eyes, so much for the subtle approach, "Fine then, change of subject, why did you look like you wanna rip something to shreds a while ago?"

He didn't think he had been that obvious about it and couldn't hide his dismay, "It's nothing." he reasoned as he returned to stirring the contents in the bowl with vigor.

"I bet it's got something to do with Axel."

Roxas let out a low growl and whipped the wooden spoon in her direction, almost splattering her with the cookie dough, "Do _not_ speak of him in this household."

She grinned, "Why? What's he done to you?"

He huffed, "He spells trouble. I swear to God you guys are blind for not seeing it."

Naminé laughed, "He does _not_ spell trouble! You're just being paranoid!"

"You don't even know him!" he protested as he turned to his sister.

"Do you?" she retorted just as fast.

He snapped his mouth shut and turned away. Of course he didn't know the guy, but he didn't have to know the guy to know that the guy spelt trouble. With a capital T.

Roxas didn't understand why they couldn't see eye to eye about the red headed neighbor. Maybe...he might actually be wrong about the guy. But what if he wasn't? He'd just have to be vigilant about it right?

Better safe than sorry as they say.

"…I have my reasons ok?" he muttered out and began to finally scoop out his over-mixed batch of cookie batter.

She watched her brother curiously, as though caught in the middle of saying something or nothing at all, but in the end, she decided to leave it as it is, "Ok then," she spoke as she went back to scooping small dollops of cookie dough onto a baking tray.

The silence didn't last long, because as soon as their mother popped into the kitchen, chaos ensued.

"Mum, we're out of flour again."

"What? Again? I just bought those two days ago!"

Roxas tried everything in his power to stay out of it. It wasn't his fault Naminé was on a baking spree and decided to bake cookies for the teacher staffs at the school they both attended.

* * *

Roxas walked with determination, his pace set. One foot in front of the other, his destination in sight.

He was going to have a _talk_ with Axel today, something he probably should've done a while ago. It was time to set some boundaries and limits, all which must be obeyed or consequences must be faced.

He saw the house, but the house didn't matter to him. The open garage did. And inside the open garage, was the man he wanted to see.

He stood in front of the car, arms crossed and a frown on his face.

It wasn't until later, maybe after five or so minutes of standing and perhaps looking like an idiot to some outsiders, that he decided to take the initiative.

He coughed, loud and clear for all to hear.

There was a knock of something, most likely flesh with metal, (Roxas felt just a little satisfied at the sound of it), a muffled curse, a fumble of tools and another quick curse before a dirtied body rolled out, "What?"

Roxas continued to have his eyes narrowed at the red head, not at all amused.

Green eyes stared back, his expression changing and now looking just a tad confused, "Seriously, what?"

"You know what." he almost spat out.

"No I don't. What's this about?" he asked as he pulled out a napkin from his pocket and tried to wipe the grease away from his fingers.

"You, coming over to my house, that's what."

"What's wrong with that? You're at _my_ house." the red head pointed out.

"Not at all, I'm barely even in your garage." he reasoned and quickly demanded, "Don't change the subject."

"I'm not."

"You _were_." he rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I don't want you near my family, especially my mum and sister."

He chuckled as he stood up, easily towering over the blond, "No can do kiddo."

But he refused to be intimidated, "And why not?"

"I have my reasons."

He almost let out a growl, "Seriously, I'll tell my dad and he'll tell the whole neighborhood and the neighborhood-watch and you'll be sent packing again."

Green eyes rolled, "Hey, it's not _them_ I'm after." he gave a curt nudge of his head towards the direction of the blonds' house before he started walking away, down the footpath towards pointed house.

Roxas frowned, still not believing the guy for all he was worth and followed. "Then who? If not my mum and sister?" and almost out of a random thought, he couldn't help but ask, "My dad?"

The red head stopped, and turned to the blond with a face of fright and shock and complete surprise, "Ew! Dude, geez, what the fu--" the red head sputtered and grimaced, "Wrong man, nuh-uh, just damn wrong."

"Well then what?" he spat, and couldn't help but admit that it had been a pretty funny reaction to see.

The red head sighed as he ushered the blond towards the house, "You're just going to have to use that noggin' on yours and find out on your own."

Roxas ignored the fact that the man was pushing him forward with a hand on his back and was possibly oil-stained, "You're planning something and I don't like it!" he yelled out as he brushed the hand away and turned to glare at the red head. Damn if he wasn't paranoid, not to mention childish and immature.

Axel shrugged, "I might be, but it's not what you're thinking." he winked before leaning down just a tad, "See you at the party." he spoke lowly, turned and walked away.

The blond screwed his face in confusion, "Say what?"

The red head laughed and began walking backwards, "Christmas party. Hel-_lo_." he smirked as he gave a salute before turning back to the front.

How did Axel know about the Christmas party?

* * *

"How did Axel know about the Christmas party?"

"I invited him." she spoke with a smile as she continued to pick the cookies up with a spatula and slide it onto a cooling rack.

"You _what_?" could she not _see_ the potential danger the man completely _reeked_ of? It was so obvious it could even have a sign over it.

"I invited him to the Christmas party. Why not? Everybody in the neighborhood is coming. Mum and dad said it was a good idea too."

"So not the point! Naminé--"

"Who's coming to the what party what now?" their father interrupted and nicked a cookie from the cooking rack before tossing it from one hand to another, "Ouch, still hot."

Naminé laughed before she replied, "The new neighbor."

"Oh! New neighbor! That's right." he suddenly remembered as he pushed his glasses up his nose a smidgen, "What's his name again? It always escapes me." he started clicking his fingers, an attempt to remember faster, "Axel! That's right. Interesting fellow he is." he laughed and rewarded himself with a cookie.

Roxas let out an involuntary groan of defeat. Why was this happening? Could they not _see_ the waves of…dodginess coming from him?!

"Now what was his last name again?" he muffled out, a few crumbs slipping from his mouth, "Starts with Q. Or was it F?"

Roxas stopped paying attention after that and decided to wallow in his misery, sitting on the couch in the living room watching Spongebob be an idiot on TV, temporarily forgetting that _Axel_ had sat on it just some days ago.

Wasn't he supposed to burn it or something?

Ah who cares…

* * *

Roxas ran as fast as he could.

From the moment he was let off from work, he was already in mid-dash back towards home.

Usually he wouldn't be running, but he was somehow suckered into taking a late shift and ended up working overtime as well and was now late for the Christmas party at the church.

He still had to get home, take a shower and get changed into something not smelly and not work-related.

In the middle of his run, he was almost home too, his phone started to jingle a tune and he fumbled his way into his pocket.

"Hello?" he answered breathlessly.

"Roxas?" a familiar voice answered back.

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked as he turned the corner and tried to fish the house keys out from the pockets of his jacket.

He didn't know why he bothered with a jacket. He was sweating like a pig.

"Are you coming soon? Mum's getting worried."

Roxas panted into the phone and slowed down to a jog, "Yeah, but I still need to shower and everything." he sucked in a sore breath and sighed, "Maybe half an hour or something?"

"Dad asked if you need a ride."

"The church is only five minutes away." the blond reasoned as he finally found his keys and hurried over to his house.

"Yeah, but you sound really tired."

No shit. He felt like he just ran a marathon.

Blue eyes looked over the houses and spotted the head of the church where a cross stood out, "I'm fine Naminé. I'll be there soon. I smell like a pig." he spoke as he stuck the keys into the lock and turned. "I'll see you soon."

"Ok. Buh-bye."

"Laters." he hung up and stepped into the cool house, closed and locked the door behind him and proceeded his way up the stairs and towards a much deserved shower.

It didn't take him very long to go through his shower, the usual ten minutes, and it took him even less time to pick out his cloths, something nice and warm, and get ready to leave.

And by the time he reached the church, he reckoned he still had about five more minutes to spare.

"Look who finally decided to drop by!" Keith, the head pastor of the church, a fairly old man with a warm smile and welcoming arms, greeted the blond as he stepped in through the door.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." he smiled as he shrugged his jacket off and left it on the coat rack nearby.

"Not at all Roxas! Come! Join in the festivities!" he spoke as he ushered the blond further inside the church were the rest of the neighborhood gathered and where lots of snacks and foods were prepared and laid on various sized plates on a long table.

But food wasn't on his mind at the moment, even though it actually is, finding the family was top priority.

"Roxas!"

The blond turned just in time to receive a hug from his sister dressed in red and white.

"Naminé." he greeted with a smile.

"Merry Christmas."

"Technically, it's not Christmas-"

"Oh hush." she chastised him as she fixed up her little Santa hat, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet."

"Go eat! There's still plenty to go around. I'll go tell mum and dad you're here." she spoke and looked as though she was about to run off to tell everybody that Roxas was in the house.

"I'm pretty sure they already know." If her shout wasn't already warning enough to signal his presence.

She merely grinned and gave a wave before she disappeared off to tell everyone, and more if she had the chance to, that he had arrived.

He let out a soft sigh as he moved on towards the food table, a little hungry for more than just a nibble.

He was downright starving. And it was evident with how much food he piled on his plate. He was still a growing boy after all. One and a half more years of growing to do.

"Nice of you to drop by." a low voice greeted him and he resisted the urge to scowl. He settled on a small frown instead.

"What do you want." he muttered out, his mouth half full with a chicken finger sandwich.

"Nothing at all." the red head smiled, "Merry Christmas."

He swallowed and ate the rest of the finger sandwich, "Ho, ho, ho…" this'll be fun…

"So I was talking to Naminé just now-"

"What did I tell you about staying away from her." he threatened with a point of the finger.

He shrugged, "Like I said, she's not really my type." the red head spoke with a smirk as he leaned down towards the blond.

"I'm not buying that." Roxas frowned as he tried to cross his arms but was mindful of the plate he was still holding but still having half a mind to shove the red headed neighbor out of the church. He didn't care that his mum and dad and Naminé agreed to invite the guy over for the party. He didn't even care if he ended up making a big scene.

"Whatever you decide then." he shrugged as he took a sip from the fruit punch that was on the drinks' table nearby.

Roxas decided not to stay too long, he didn't want his appetite ruined and half the things on his plate was full of sweet stuffs and he didn't want to go through another one of how the red head wasn't 'fond' of sweets.

Complete and utter bullshit.

He eventually caught up with his parents who were mingling with the neighborhood parents and was asked, as usual, about how work was going for him.

"Its fine." he smiled and ate the rest of his dinner.

It was barely an hour into the party that he started to feel a little tired. The food that he ate helped contribute to his sleepiness too, not to mention the day's stresses at work.

He hadn't seen the red head all night, not since that last encounter by the food table, and he wasn't too sure if that was a good thing or not. But just as he was lingering on it, the red head suddenly reappeared not two inches away from him.

"Hello Roxas."

Blue eyes rolled, "What now."

A wince, "Such hostility."

"Only towards you.

"I feel so special."

Roxas scoffed and tried to move away, but the red head persisted and followed.

"You completely missed out on the first part of the party." the red head spoke as he leisurely trailed after the blond.

"Was busy." he reasoned as he maneuvered through the crowd and greeted whoever spoke to him with a smile.

"Work?"

"Yes, unlike _some_ people."

Another wince, "Hey, I _do_ have a job."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Roxas!" another voice called out and both heads turned to the speaker, "Oh my gosh, do you have _any_ idea how long it took me to find you? Hi Axel." she smiled and gave a wave.

"Hello Naminé." he grinned, and the blond frowned.

"What's up?"

She snapped back to her brother and promptly remembered, "Oh! That's right! You missed out on the secret Santa game." she spoke as she handed him a roughly wrapped present.

"Huh?" he didn't think he was included in the game, since he wasn't even there to begin with, "But I wasn't even here." he spoke as he stared down at the present, unsure if he even wanted to take it.

"Doesn't matter." she smiled as she shoved the present into his hand, "It's rude to not take it."

He heard a snicker somewhere behind him, but he chose to ignore it as he stared down at the present, "Uh…Do you know who bought it?" he asked as he took a look at the card it came with. All it said was his name.

She rolled her eyes, "Roxas, hel-_lo_, secret _Santa_. Duh?"

He turned away and couldn't help a slight smile. Of course he knew it was secret Santa, but he still wanted to say thank you to whoever it was that gave it to him.

"I still wanna say thank you, _duh._" he retorted as he fingered the wrapper and tried to rip a little of it open.

"Open it, open it." Naminé encouraged as she clapped her hands together while eyeing the present.

The blond hummed as he turned the present and switched it from one hand to another, "Maybe later."

"Awwww…" two voices spoke simultaneously and Roxas couldn't help but turn to the red head and raise an eyebrow.

The red head merely turned the other way and whistled a Christmas tune out. As if that wasn't making him completely obvious.

Roxas ignored the other and turned back to his sister, "Are you gonna stay here with mum and dad?"

"Yeah, why? Are you gonna leave soon?"

"Yeah, probably. I'm starting to feel really tired." he wondered why the red head didn't take him talking to his sister as a sign for him to _go away_.

"Oh, ok then. The party should wind down in a couple hours or so; do you think you can stay?"

He stared at his sister with incredulous eyes, "Naminé, we've had this sort of thing for years, does it _ever_ finish an hour or so past midnight?" he asked rhetorically, to which she just smiled and swayed to and fro.

"I guess…" she looked contemplative for a moment, "At least stay till midnight, that's just another half an hour away."

He hummed and brought up a hand to his chin in thought, "Maybe…I'm feeling pretty tired though."

She laughed and smacked his shoulder, "Aw come on!"

"Ok, ok, I'll stay." he finally decided on as he endured the light punches she gave him.

"Great! I'll see you at the countdown, I'm gonna go chat with Emily. She got a kitten for her Christmas present!!" she cried out gleefully as she clapped her hands together before skipping her merry way towards the said girl who was holding onto a ginger kitten with an annoying little Santa hat on its head.

Roxas wasn't entirely fond of cats, but the kitten looked cute.

Just as he turned around, on the way to the drinks table because he was getting damn thirty, he almost shocked himself into something akin to a cardiac arrest. Axel was still standing there looking as though he had nothing better to do.

The guy seriously needs a life…

"What do you want?!" the blond tried not to yell out too loud.

The red head merely grinned, "Nothing."

"Then go away and bug somebody else, geez." he rolled his eyes and moved past the red head, his fingers itching toward the present.

Once he grabbed himself a drink, he eventually found himself a secluded corner of sorts and pulled out the present from his pocket to get a better look.

It was oddly shaped, from what he could tell, wrapped almost like one of those poppers things with mini-prizes and fortunes stuck in the middle.

He gave it a little shake but when it made no noise what so ever, he was left with a blank mind as to what it could possibly be.

It wasn't too often he'd get presents, especially from someone other than his family.

He wasn't too…keen on receiving presents from someone other than his family either. It made him feel…obligated to return the favor.

He never really did like the feeling, even though it came with the surprise of even getting anything in the first place.

Finishing off the rest of his drink and then throwing it into a bin that was conveniently placed nearby, he decided to open up the gift, just a peek maybe.

But before he could even rip a small portion of the wrapping paper off, somebody's shadow towered over him. He didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"What is it." he muttered out as he continued to eye the present, his fingers just inches away.

"Oh, don't mind me, just open the present."

Roxas rolled his eyes and shook his head, "I'll open it later. When nobody's watching and breathing down my neck." he spoke as he pocketed the present again.

"I'm not breathing down your neck. I'm hardly anywhere near it." he grinned.

"Why _are_ you constantly bugging me?"

"No reason." he offered with a slight shrug.

He crossed his arms, "Then go bug somebody else, this is my corner."

The red head clicked his tongue, "Now, now, no need to be so…possessive."

Roxas frowned; he was _not_ liking the way the red head was treating him like he could be easily walked all over and pushed around. He could definitely stand up for himself and stand his ground in a fight.

"Look, you're really starting to grate on my nerves."

"But it was never my purpose to."

"You're doing it anyway." he pointed out but decided it was a battle he could not win, not with the red head's way of thinking. So saving himself the trouble, he decided to just leave the red head behind and hope that it would be the end of it. For tonight and a couple of days after that at least.

But just as he sidestepped past the red head, an arm shot out and landed on the wall beside his head. Blue eyes turned to green in a mixture of confusion and frustration, "Wha--"

"Gotcha." Axel grinned, eyebrows raised and looking smug.

Furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head, he couldn't help but spit out, "What?"

With a long, spindly finger, he pointed upwards and blue eyes followed.

"…What…?" Roxas retorted. What was the guy trying to do? Freak him out? Well it's not gonna work.

"Mistletoe." tied up with a pretty red ribbon hanging just above their heads.

"Oh bug off."

The red head exploded in laughter.

His laughter drew attention from many people, from all the neighborhood friends and family within the area, but most of them just smiled, laughed along a little before going about their way and conversation.

Eventually, the red head's laughter died down and he sniffed, "Well, I gotta say, that's a first."

The blond rolled his eyes and scoffed.

The red head shook his head, "Think of it as…a thank you present to me. Just a kiss on the cheek will do."

Something suddenly clicked, "Wait, hold up, that was you?" he spoke as he pulled out the present from his pocket again, "This was you?"

"Uh, yeah, _duh_."

"Don't _duh_ me. And you can take it back." he spoke as he shoved the present back to the red head and stormed off.

"Aw come on! It's rude to not take it!" he yelled out after the blond before slumping and letting out a sigh of defeat.

"Mission fail?" he heard a giggle from nearby.

"Your bro's a hard person to crack." he muttered out as he stared down at the present in hand. It took him hours to find something that might appease the blond but it wasn't even looked at by the blue eyes it was meant for.

She smiled as she turned to watch her brother go off towards the door, "That's Roxas for you." he was such a stubborn guy…

"I can't keep dancing circles around him."

"Then stop."

"What?" he snapped his gaze over to the blonde twin.

"Stop dancing circles around him. Be blunt about it because that's probably the only way you're gonna get through to him."

He averted his attention away, "That's not my style."

"Well, you're gonna have to compromise." she spoke with a smile.

He let out a growl of sorts from the back of his throat before turning back to Naminé, "Why _are_ you helping me anyway?" he asked as he straightened himself out and stared down at the blonde.

She continued to smile, "We all have our little secrets."

Axel merely hummed, as though understanding but not really, and said nothing else.

"I think he's leaving." she pointed out.

"Then let him leave." he crossed his arms, mindful of the present still in his hand and watched as Roxas grew further and further from him and closer to leaving. He stared down at the blonde who was minding her own business, staring at her nails which was colored a pretty red and white.

"Ok."

He sniffed and then continued to frown. He didn't even know why he was going so far for a stubborn kid he didn't even know to begin with. But it took him a while before he eventually cracked and went after the blond with another growl of sorts.

Naminé smiled as she watched the red head go off after her brother.

"We all have our little secrets…"

* * *

"Hey Roxas!"

The blond moved on, determined to get out, away from the strange red head who seemed to actually be _hitting_ on him. In an extremely weird way.

He was almost out.

"Oh Roxas! Are you leaving so soon already? It's not even midnight yet!" an old woman, the one that lived with lots of cats just a few houses away, smiled sweetly at the blond.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm a little tired from work, and I have an early shift tomorrow." no lie.

"Aww, such a hard worker." she squeezed his cheeks before patting him on the head, "Off you go then."

"Goodnight." he smiled, as best as he could without looking too strained, before walking towards the door, without seeming as though he was in a hurry, grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger nearby and proceeded to pull it on.

"Hey Roxas." someone took hold of his arm just as he slipped it into his jacket.

"What is it." he tried to keep his attention elsewhere, but in a small lapse of where his sanity lacked for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the other and immediately regretted.

The red head looked torn, as though caught in between two things and he wasn't sure which one he wanted. "Uhh…"

He sighed tiredly, decided it was a good time to leave, "Goodnight." he spoke as he shrugged the arm off and pulled on the jacket.

Axel exhaled softly, "Hey, Roxas, look. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm _not_ exactly interested in your sister and your mother…or your dad…"

Roxas rolled his eyes as he zipped the jacket up to the top even though it was more than just a little warm in the building.

He had already figured it out when the red head pointed out the mistletoe. Everything suddenly clicked into place at that right (or wrong) exact time and moment. And a part of him wished he had made a bigger scene out of it so he can actually drive the red head out of the neighborhood forever via a mob of angry families.

Axel was either crazy or a complete lunatic. Or was just damn…insane.

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and gave another sigh, "Yeah, I know, but you're freaking me out. Goodnight." he muttered out as he made a move to grab the doorknob but a hand was holding him back again.

"At least let me walk you home." the red head offered.

"I'm fine." he tried to shrug the arm off but it held fast as he opened the door and continued to try and step out of the church.

The cool wind was refreshing to his heated cheeks.

"Oh Roxas!" his mother suddenly called out to him, "Are you going home already?"

The blond fought back a groan as he turned to his mother, "Yeah. I've got work again tomorrow and today's shift was really tiring." he reasoned.

It was half true. He was tired, and he wanted to sleep. And he wanted to get away from the crazy red head.

She nodded her head in understanding, "Ok then, have a good night's sleep and sweet dreams." she spoke as she gave him a kiss on the forehead to which he almost tried to squirm away because it was a little embarrassing.

"Ok mum, I'll see you later." he spoke and stepped out of the door.

"Oh Axel." he heard his mother call and was almost happy for the distraction to leave without the red head but promptly changed his mind when his mother asked the question he dreaded the most, "Could you be a dear and walk Roxas home? It's a bit unsafe at this time of night."

"Sure can do Miranda."

The blond let out a quiet groan and moved on, not really bothering to wait for the red head.

He didn't have to wait very long before footsteps started to follow him after the church doors were closed behind them.

"Roxas, wait up."

But with determination, he walked on; his house was no more than a quick walk or a very short run away.

The red head easily fell right into stride with him, and Roxas was more than a little miffed about that. He honestly wished the red head would trip over a rock and twist his ankle just to make it even, or something.

Eventually, Axel sighed, "Look, I know I probably made a pretty bad first impression, but um…"

Roxas didn't want to listen. He liked treating Axel like he was a jerk mainly because his first impression of the red head was that he wasn't _fond_ of sweets and there was _no_ way he was ever going to let that go.

"Would you at least look like you're listening to me?" the red head asked, sounding as though he was a bit frustrated.

Not that Roxas cared. He just kept on walking.

The red head groaned as he threw his hands up in the air, one of them still holding on to the present, "Fine! Then you probably wouldn't care what I'm going to say next would you?"

"Nope."

Footsteps stopped following and for a moment, the blond was relieved that the other finally decided to leave him alone, but the twinging in his heart felt other wise.

He slowed his pace down a little, not too much, but enough for him to turn around to stare at the other all the while making sure his feet were still on the footpath and weren't veering off to some other direction, say perhaps the fence of a neighbors' house or something.

When he caught sight of the red head, looking painfully neutral despite the situation, he felt another twinge in his heart and wished it would go away.

He refused to think it meant anything. It didn't mean anything. It couldn't.

But just as he was about to turn back to the path ahead of him, the one that led back to home and to safety, his heart skipped a beat.

"I like you."

It caught Roxas so off guard, he practically tripped himself over an imaginary pot-hole but he managed to catch himself even though his feet had frozen on the pavement and had stopped moving altogether.

Axel continued in his so-called confession, "I really do. Not your sister, not your mother and _definitely_ not your dad."

The blond rolled his eyes, why did his neighbor have to be such a complete weirdo?

He refused to think the confession meant anything. It didn't mean anything. It couldn't. What was he supposed to even _think_?

He felt something nag at him, pushing him to the edge, making him feel flustered, more than he already was to begin with.

"When you first came over to my house with cookies, I thought 'Huh, what a weirdo.'."

Roxas frowned. _Who_ was the weirdo here exactly?

"But then I couldn't stop thinking about you, and then your sister showed up and I was like, 'What the hell?'."

The blond couldn't help but wonder what the red head was trying to say.

"She _really_ looked like you, but uh…nothing happened, she just gave me the cookies and told me you baked them. And uh…"

Axel was seriously veering off-course here.

Eventually, the red head snapped his mouth shut and decided to start over again with a sigh, "Point as to where I'm trying to get? Would you at _least_ give me a chance to start over?"

With another frown, he contemplated his answer. He knew he was being a completely stubborn git about it, but…this, something was like was not something out of the regular books you get from bookstores and libraries…

This wasn't even something to happen in movies or chick flicks.

This was…just…way off.

He had his reasons to decline.

It wasn't even about the fact that Axel wasn't fond of sweets anymore.

This was personal. This was about…something Roxas hadn't thought much into. This was about…life. And how this might affect the rest of it like how one domino would fall and the others would follow.

"…No…Axel."

"Why not?"

He refused to think the voice sounded heartbroken and down. He didn't want to think too far into it. He didn't want to know why his heart started to twinge and hurt like he was hurting himself at the same time he was probably hurting Axel.

"Why me? Why not some other guy. I dunno. Whatever." he was starting to feel flustered. His mind was reeling with so many questions and hardly enough answers to go around.

He had been _fine_ before the red head moved in. He had been normal, his life was good.

And now it was just…way off and he wasn't sure if it was ever going to go back to normal again, even if the red head decided to move out to another different city or neighborhood or whatever somewhere far away.

"Look at me, Roxas."

"No." only because he couldn't. Not into eyes of green that seem to read him like a book.

Axel sucked in a quick breath and exhaled quietly, seemingly already pushed to the edge and was falling with no one around to help him.

"Fine," he muttered out, "Then just take the damn present." footsteps grew closer to him, along with a voice that had an underlying tone of betrayal, "I don't care what you do with it." he spoke as he shoved the item onto the blonds' chest and walked past without looking back.

Roxas fumbled with the hold of the item he hadn't been expecting to suddenly fall into his hands, but with an unwanted case of the butter fingers, it slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor, letting out a metallic clank of sorts.

The red head paused a few steps away and turned his head, but not enough to look back, not enough to lock green eyes with blue.

The blond stared, unsure of what to do, what to say, what to even think, his hands holding onto nothing but thin air, his eyes locked on that small glimpse of green.

But the red head kept walking, never once stopping to look back.

Roxas forced himself to look away, not quite understanding what had just happened, how everything suddenly revealed itself in an oddly timed play. Was this supposed to happen?

As he crouched down to pick up the present, his ears picked up on the click-clank from within the wrapper and the sound of the door slamming shut some houses away.

Roxas had always known he was a bit stubborn. He didn't exactly know why. Maybe because he liked things done a certain way and if it wasn't, then it wasn't good enough.

Staring down at the present in his hands, he felt that twinge in his heart again. With each turn, he could hear something rattle and shake from the inside.

It was probably broken. No point in opening it now.

Suddenly, midnight struck, and he could hear the shouts of celebration from the church not a few minutes walk away.

So much for a Merry Christmas…

* * *

He hadn't gone home as he had originally planned. His feet had developed a mind of its own and started walking away, past his home, towards some unknown destination.

It wasn't until his mind was half cleared of the things that were floating about that he realized that the park was just across the street.

It was probably a bad idea, to be out this late at night. But he didn't want to go home, not when he knew that Axel was only a few houses away and might even be standing right outside throwing rocks up his window.

Staring down at the present he had opened shortly after he had taken a seat on one of the benches, he couldn't help but wonder what it was.

It was odd, probably something you'd only get at specialty stores and it probably cost quite a bundle.

It was an intricate design of weapons, four altogether with two pairs similar to each other.

In the wrapper, there were little spikes, bits and pieces that probably fell off on impact with the hard, unforgiving ground.

It probably wasn't something one would give away for a random secret Santa game. There was a limit of how much one person should spend on the other. You know, in case they don't like them.

But Roxas liked this one and wished he hadn't dropped it.

"…I can solder it back together if you want."

Roxas jumped and almost dropped the present again as he snapped his head towards the speaker with his mouth practically hanging open.

"I mean…" the red head refused to look at the blond as he brought up a hand to rub the tension away from his neck. "It's easy to fix, since…I made it myself." not that he was trying to win any points with the blond or anything, showing off like that.

Eventually, Roxas' mouth began to work, "What're you doing here?" he asked, completely bypassing the offer the red head made.

"…Couldn't sleep." he reasoned as he shifted his weight from one foot to another.

"I see…" he turned his attention back to the gift at hand and fiddled around with it before placing it back onto the wrapper, "You can have this back." he spoke as he held out the present for Axel to take back.

"I told you I don't want it." he almost snapped.

"Then stop offering to fix it if you just want me to throw it away."

The red head scowled as he crossed his arms, "I'm starting to wonder why I even liked you in the first place."

"I've been wondering why you even _liked_ me in the first place." he couldn't fight off the heat from his cheeks. He was still flustered and confused beyond belief. Why did Axel have to bring it up again?

Roxas couldn't help but wonder what good would come out of this. If _anything_ would come out of this other than regret and guilt.

A sigh, "So your mind's made up?"

Truthfully…"No…" he wanted to know why. Why him of all the people out in the world. Why him? He was a guy, first of all…

Axel didn't seem at all relieved at the blonds' wavering uncertainty. He had known it wasn't going to be a simple yes or no, but he just wanted a chance. To start over again, he didn't even care if they just stayed as neighbors. At least that was better than nothing at all.

He didn't even know why he was trying so hard for a kid he hardly even knew.

He let out another sigh as he tried to rub away the kink in his neck that didn't seem to want to go away, maybe it was because of all the tension in the air, "It's getting late."

And by the look of his watch, almost half past one in the morning. His parents and Naminé probably weren't home yet, were probably still at the church chattering away about the upcoming new year and party and so on…

They normally stayed till maybe just after , but he wasn't always one-hundred percent sure.

"Yeah…" slowly, the blond forced himself up from the bench and kept his hold onto the present and its broken parts.

"At least let me walk you home." the red head offered again, his voice having an underlying tone of quiet desperation.

"…Sure." he didn't know what compelled him to agree.

Maybe it was the fact that they were bound to walk in the same direction regardless. It probably would've been awkward if they walked a short distance behind each other with nothing but their footsteps to speak for them.

They walked together in silence, but it wasn't the kind of silence that Roxas liked. There was tension, so much of it, coupled with anxiety and hints of frustration.

It was awkward to walk beside the red head, the one that had suddenly flipped his life upside down without meaning to, or perhaps maybe even on purpose…

He almost half wished he convinced Naminé to go to greet the guy instead of him, he'd willingly put up with the damn dog if it meant avoiding this sort of drama and dilemma in his life.

But it was too late now.

"Nobody home yet?"

The blond looked up and almost walked past his house.

The lights were off, and the driveway was deprived of their car, "Nope." he spoke as he took out the keys to the house from his pockets and slipped them into the lock. "Goodnight." he mumbled out just as he opened the door and made a move to go inside.

"Wait, Roxas."

There it was again, that quiet pang in his heart to go with that hand on his arm.

"…Yeah?" he wanted to go inside, up to his room and just sleep without changing and brushing his teeth. He was too tired and wondered if he could ask for the day off, feign sickness or something. Blame it on a hangover or even food poisoning. That could totally work. It happened all the time with his other co-workers.

"I um…" Axel wondered if it'll be too bold of him to go in for a kiss, even just one on the cheek. It wouldn't mean anything. Really. People greet each other with a kiss on the cheek all the time, this could be one of those occasions.

But when blue eyes met green, he felt his breath hitch in his throat and he couldn't breathe. Damn Roxas for making things so damn difficult.

"I um…" he averted his eyes for a moment, only because he couldn't go on staring anymore because it was just too hard to resist not begging for another chance anymore.

But slowly, his eyes found its way back into the blue abyss and he found himself slowly leaning down towards Roxas.

"No mistletoe." the blond pointed out in a hushed whisper and turned away, a half attempt to just avoid looking up at the red head because he felt as though he knew what was coming.

Almost a little too eagerly, he spoke, "…I stole one." he pulled the said item from his pocket and held it out, twirling the stem around between his fingers.

Roxas stared at the mistletoe and frowned just a little. He didn't know why the red head's attitude and personality suddenly did a complete one-eighty and was being completely sincere now.

Damn the mistletoe, he wished it burned too.

It was…weird. It was wrong. It was making him think too much of the possibilities that could or might not happen.

It made his heart do odd little twists and turns and jumps as well, and it wasn't a feeling he was entirely used to.

"…I don't like people who steal." he tried again, and wondered why he didn't just leave it at that and go inside the house and avoid the red head till new years where the church was probably going to have another party.

"I'll return it later." he brought up hopefully.

"Why are you trying so hard." he didn't know why Axel was trying so hard for a kid who had been nothing but a jerk to him. And a stubborn little snot too.

"Because you're worth it and more."

He frowned, "You're sappy." unbelievably so.

"But you like it." he tried with a slight grin.

"Who said I like it." he retorted as he turned to the red head with a frown.

"You didn't deny it."

Damn, he got caught.

He let out a low growl and pulled him arm back, ready to get in and slam the door shut.

"So…" the red head started, making the blond pause for reasons he didn't know why, "No goodnight kiss?" he tried again, eager again.

"No."

He rolled his eyes, "Fine."

It almost looked like he gave up, and for a moment, the blond was lost as to what to do, but again, his heart skipped a beat and he was caught off guard once more.

"What was that?" he asked as he raised a hand to his cheek.

"Never said I couldn't give you one." the red head grinned.

The blond frowned and half heartedly socked Axel on the chin.

"Ow, fu--son of a--Urgh!"

Roxas laughed, only because the red head was being completely dramatic about it, and then shoved the present back into the other's arm.

Green eyes stared at the present and then back at the blond who merely smirked.

"Fix it and we'll see about that goodnight kiss."

Axel couldn't help but smile.

And it wasn't until the next night, with rocks thrown up to his window to signal another's presence, that Roxas saw that the gift was fixed and was told that the weapons were two chakrams and two keyblades; weapons that he designed from scratch.

That was him showing off again.

* * *

Roxas knew that Axel liked the gingerbread men, just without the gumdrop buttons and without too much cinnamon.

After that night, along with that embarrassing moment where Roxas was actually pretty reluctant to give the kiss on the cheek even though he practically _promised_ he would, he started baking special batches just for the red headed neighbor.

* * *

And uhh...I'm sorry in advance if you caught any mistakes. I had to edit this very quickly before Christmas was over...-shifty eyes- Gimme a holler if you spots any.

MERRY CHRISTMAS BY THE WAY!!! HO HO HO~~~


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